Tip-Off: 6 PM CT
Location: Chesapeake Energy Arena (Oklahoma City, OK)
Television: FSOK
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @TheThunderGuys for live-tweets during the game
After a somewhat surprising loss last night to the Jazz in Utah, the Thunder look to get back on track at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Oklahoma City struggled to get shots to fall last night, and part of that was due to a lack of ball movement and too many questionable shots. The Thunder need to continue to work on their chemistry and find what is going to work best offensively with this new roster.
The Timberwolves had a similar offseason as the Thunder in that they acquired some star power to help boost their chances of making the playoffs, something Minnesota has failed to do over the last 13 seasons. Minnesota acquired starters Jeff Teague, Jimmy Butler, and Taj Gibson through free agency, while also picking up Jamal Crawford for some veteran leadership off the bench.
Tonight’s game is a Northwestern Division matchup, so there are potential playoff seeding implications involved. It is only the third game of the season for both teams, but divisional matchups have proven to be key in the past, and that could very well end up being the case for tonight’s game.
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Russell Westbrook
- SG: Andre Roberson
- SF: Paul George
- PF: Carmelo Anthony
- C: Steven Adams
Timberwolves
- PG: Jeff Teague
- SG: Jimmy Butler
- SF: Andrew Wiggins
- PF: Taj Gibson
- C: Karl Anthony-Towns
Injuries
Thunder
- None
Timberwolves
- Justin Patton (foot surgery) is out indefinitely.
Head-to-Head
- In nine seasons in Oklahoma City, the Thunder are 28-7 against the Timberwolves (15-2 at home, 13-5 away).
- The Thunder have won 3 of the last 4 games and 13 of the last 15.
- The Thunder have won the 4-game season series against the Timberwolves 7 times and tied twice.
- The Thunder and the Timberwolves have never met in the Western Conference Playoffs.
- The Thunder and the Timberwolves will meet again on Friday in Minnesota.
- Russell Westbrook tied his career-high in minutes with 50 against the Timberwolves on March 23, 2012.
- Andre Roberson tied his career-high in steals with 5 against the Timberwolves on January 13, 2017.
- Jeff Teague tied his career-high for steals with 6 last season against the Thunder on November 20, 2016, when playing with the Indiana Pacers.
- Gorgui Deng set his career-high for points with 25 two seasons ago against the Thunder on March 11, 2016. He also tied his career-high for blocks with 6 two seasons ago against the Thunder on January 12, 2016.
- Tom Thibodeau is in his first year with the Timberwolves, and he has a 3-10 record against the Thunder during his NBA tenure.
Game Notes
- The Thunder are 1-0 at home so far this season, while the Timberwolves are 0-1 on the road.
- Tonight is the Thunder’s third game in four nights to start the season.
- Taj Gibson was with the Thunder for the final 23 games of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs last season.
- Russell Westbrook finished with six points last night against the Utah Jazz marking only the second time in the last two seasons that he finished in single digits.
Article written by Zack Low. Follow @TheThunderGuys on Twitter and Instagram.